Games that will be remembered: Presentation vs Gameplay

[MaxwellGT2000]

It's a point that has been debated for years, but this argues about games that will be remembered and give some prime examples to back this up.

Essentially beauty is only skin deep, and looks fade.  Some of the best cinematic games of last gen just don't hold up this gen and with the gameplay being so generic and unfun, add to this other games have outdone that standard and its outdated from that point on.  And with that, they're forgotten in the passing of time.

Take for example, Pac man, still played to this day, put onto compilation discs, and sold at full price, and still somehow more successful than many games that try to push graphics and the cinematic experience of games, see Chronicles of Riddick. Not to say all these games that push those cinematic experiences are bad, but come a few years when something trumps the presentation, what is there left to go back to?  But if that game is given good unique gameplay, even if the animations and graphics become dated there is still fun to be had and something to come back to and replay, see Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.  While games that have par for the course gameplay and story, in a gen, it really has no reason to even exist anymore, see Star Wars the Force Unleashed.

In the end the best way to handle things is a seamless balance of presentation and gameplay that looks good 20 years from now and still has some amazing gameplay, see Super Mario Bros and New Super Mario Bros Wii.  There's just some games that will be so unique, look good despite the technology, and good gameplay that they'll be remembered like Resident Evil 4 while its next gen brother Resident Evil 5, actually looks more bland, has an alright story, and the gameplay somehow isn't quite as good because of the lack of cases and more action feel.  Just going to show game design is key no matter the generation.